"Life is not fair, so get used to it". As some said this was spoke by Bill Gates in front of a group of high school students. It is said and agreed by many, inequality exist everywhere in this world and is the fundamental basis of the relations between human societies. Like it or not you have to live with it! Inequalities distinguish human beings, be in the aspect of physical ability, mental ability or opportunities to various resources. The situation is compounded by another factor - competition. To get the best out of life, we are apt to compete and competition begins at school and continues in our adult lives.

The question whether competition is necessary in education becomes pertinent because whether we are in business or in a profession we have to progress and moving upward. Excellent achievement is everybody's business. Life cannot be static. You will be kick out if not knock out if you stops, so to say. Competition in school enables an individual to aim high, and the competitive spirit developed in school will become an asset in one's endeavour to progress in his chosen career.

However, unhealthy competition can be detrimental to the individual; one can become self-centred and ruthless. We must ensure a healthy mind in a healthy body; competition should also help to achieve the nobler aims of education, for healthy competition requires the adherence to principles and moral values. Competition is unavoidable and progress in the different fields of human activity has been, to a large extent, due to this spirit of competition.

The paper chase we talk about today is a reflection of the competition in society. The spirit of competition cultivated and developed and made part and parcel of a person's mental makeup during his student days will stand him in good stead throughout his professional career. A successful career always depends on the degree of excellence a person achieves and the recognition he gets on the basis of his excellent performance. The spirit of competition can best be cultivated in one's student days in schools and colleges. On the other hand, competition can have deleterious results if a student is not realistic in his expectations and not aware of his limitations. Individuals are not equally endowed, not everybody are talented; their aptitudes and inclinations differ. If one without an aptitude for Maths competes with one with a marked aptitude for the subject, other things remaining equal, it is not likely that the former would be able to compete successfully with the latter. There is the possibility of the student, after repeated disappointments, to be frustrated; his mental health may be affected.

Although "survival fittest" always holds, in some instances an individual need to be made aware of his limits and counselled to accept first what he is capable of so that competition becomes healthy and directed towards bringing out his best. There is also the risk of a student, after repeatedly failing to achieve his target, losing his interest and completely switching off. Then the system would have failed to help the individual to develop his full potentialities. Healthy competition is possible only if everybody have healthy minds and correct moral values, but is this our very world showing this trend now?